Tail light adapter assembly

ABSTRACT

A tail light adapter assembly having a T-shaped configuration with the bulb and a socket to hold the bulb forming the crossbar of the T, and a standard lamp base forming the leg of the T, and an electrical cable extending away from the assembly with leads interconnecting the contacts in the socket and the lamp base.

United States Patent 1 Willis Feb. 20, 1973 1541 TAIL LIGHT ADAPTERASSEMBLY [76] Inventor: Alvin B. Willis, 705 East Hickory Avenue,Lompoc, Calif. 93436 [22] Filed: Nov. 29, 1968 [21] Appl. No.: 779,857

[52] US. Cl. ..240/8.3 [51] Int. Cl ..B60g l/30 [58] Field of Search..240/8.3

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,225,472 5/1917 Morin..240/8.3 1,354,066 9/1920 Roberts ..240/8.3 X

Ellithorpe.

Donley .240/ 8.3

1,937,912 12/1933 lurkcrn' ..240/8.3 X

1,984,124 12/1934 Foy ..240/113 X 3,137,448 6/1964 Holzhausc ..24(l/8.33,458,849 7/1969 Marks ..240/8.3 X

Primary Examiner-Samuel S. Matthews Assistant Examiner-Monroe l-l. HayesAtt0rney-Beehler & Arant [57] ABSTRACT A tail light adapter assemblyhaving a T-shaped configuration with the bulb and a socket to hold thebulb forming the crossbar of the T, and a standard lamp base forming theleg of the T, and an electrical cable extending away from the assemblywith leads interconnecting the contacts in the socket and the lamp base.

1 Claim, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTED FEBZO I973 INVENTOR ALVIN B. WILLIS14 flea/Mm" ATTORNEYS TAIL LIGHT ADAPTER ASSEMBLY This invention relatesto a tail light adapter assembly, whereby conventional vehicle taillights may be connected, without modifications, to operate thecorresponding tail lights on a towed vehicle, such as a trailer.

Various procedures and devices have previously been proposed whereby thetail lights of a towed vehicle may be made to operate in unison with thetail lights of the towing vehicle. Such proposals have included piercingthe insulation on the electrical wires leading to the towing vehiclestail lights with electrical connectors, various special purpose taillights and tail light bulbs, and the like. These previous devices andprocedures have generally proven to be unsatisfactory because theyrequire special purpose bulbs or devices which permanently modify orinjure the tail light or tail light circuitry of the towing vehicle.

These and other difficulties of prior devices and procedures have beenovercome by way of the present invention. The device of the presentinvention requires no permanent modification of the towed vehicle's taillights or tail light circuitry and is compatible with conventional taillight components.

In the drawings there is illustrated:

FIG. 1, a side elevational view of one embodiment of the assembled taillight adapter;

FIG. 2, an exploded perspective view of one embodiment of the tail lightadapter;

FIG. 3, a front elevational view of a further embodiment of the lampbase and collar; and

FIG. 4, a front elevational view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 withthe collar assembled with the lamp socket.

Referring particularly to the drawings, there is illustrated generallyat a tail light adapter assembly composed of a lamp socket 12 having anelongated cylindrical form and a standard double contact, self-indexingbase bulb 14 received in one end of socket 12. Lamp socket 12 is affixedto and dependent from a lamp base indicated generally at 16. Socket 12is mounted on lamp base 16 by means of annular collar 18. Annular collar18 is integral with and projects outwardly from lamp base 16 andreceives lamp socket 12 therein. Electrical cable 20 is composed ofwires 22 and 23 which are in electrical contact with the respectiveelectrical leads 24 and 26 from lamp socket l2 and electrical leads 28and 30 from lamp base 16. Bulb 14 is a standard double contact,self-indexing based bulb which is mounted in lamp socket 12 so that thegas envelope, containing the illuminating filaments, projects outwardlyfrom one end of the lamp socket 12 along the longitudinal axis of lampsocket 12. Bulb 14 is secured in lamp socket 12 by means of locking pins32 and 33. Lamp socket 12 is provided in the interior thereof withinsulator disc 34, which is urged outwardly towards the open end of lampsocket l2 and into contact with the base of bulb 14 by means of coilspring 36. Insulator disc 34 serves to retain and hold lamp socketcontacts 38 and 40 in contacting relationship with bulb contacts 42 and44. L-shaped locking grooves 46 and 48 are circumferentially spacedaround lamp socket l2 and are adapted to receive in interlockingco-operation locking pins 32 and 33.

The lamp base 16 is conveniently stamped from a single flat sheet ofmetal from which casing 50 is formed by rolling one portion of the flatsheet into a cylinder having the standard dimensions of a doublecontact, self-indexing lamp bulb base. Indexing pins 52 and 54 arestamped into the lamp base at the time it is formed. The interior ofcylindrical casing 50 is provided with a resilient insulation material56 which serves to insulate and resiliently retain lamp base contact 58and 60 in operative position. Annular collar 18 is integral with casing50 and projects outwardly from casing 50 in a plane which is parallel tothe longitudinal axis of casing 50. Annular collar 18 is adapted toreceive the cylindrical body of lamp socket 12 at a location adjacentbulb 14. In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, annular collar18 bears against the bulb side of boss 62 on one side and is retained inthat position by means of a lock ring 64.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, the annular collar 18bears against the electrical lead side of boss 62 and is retained inthat position by means of tabs 68. Tabs 68 are crimped over boss 62 intopermanent engaging contact with the body of lamp socket 12 (see FIG. 4),so as to retain annular collar 18 in position.

Tail light adapter assembly 10, when assembled and ready for use with astandard bulb received in one end thereof, has a generally T-shapedconfiguration with the lamp socket-bulb combination being the crossbarof the T and the lamp base being the leg of the T. The cable 20 extendsaway from the assembly 10 and is adapted to be connected to the taillight circuit of a towed vehicle at some appropriate location, notshown. The electrical leads 24, 26, 28 and 30 are connected to therespective wires 22 and 23, and lamp base 16 and bulb 14 are indexed sothat it is physically impossible to inadvertently invert the electricalcontacts 42 and 44 of bulb 14. If desired, the use of a conventionalone-way plug (not shown) at the remote end of cable 20 will make itimpossible to invert the contacts at this point.

The tail light adapter assembly 10 is conveniently installed in thestandard automobile tail light by removing the bulb from the tail light,inserting it in the tail light adapter assembly, and inserting lamp base16 of assembly 10 into the tail light socket from which the bulb waswithdrawn. Cable 20 is then drawn away from the adapter assembly 10 tosome convenient location for connection to the tail light circuit of thevehicle which is to be towed.

As will be understood by those skilled in the art, what has beendescribed are preferred embodiments in which modificationsandimprovements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe accompanying claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A unitary movable tail light adapter assembly comprising:

a generally cylindrical lamp socket adapted to receive a bulb in one endthereof, said socket ineluding a body and electrical contacts, a lampbase including a cylindrical casing and electrical contacts, thecylindrical casing of said lamp base being affixed to and in supportingrelation with the body of said socket, said assembly forming a fixed,generally T-shaped configuration with the combined socket-bulb definingthe crossbar of the T and the base forming the leg, the cylindricalcasing and electrical contacts of said base being adapted to be insertedinto a vehicle tail light assembly, wires extending between and incontact with the respective electrical contacts in said base and socketand away from said assembly, said electri- 5 cal contacts and wiresbeing insulated from contact with the body of said socket and thecylindrical casing of said base.

1. A unitary movable tail light adapter assembly comprising: a generallycylindrical lamp socket adapted to receive a bulb in one end thereof,said socket including a body and electrical contacts, a lamp baseincluding a cylindrical casing and electrical contacts, the cylindricalcasing of said lamp base being affixed to and in supporting relationwith the body of said socket, said assembly forming a fixed, generallyT-shaped configuration with the combined socket-bulb defining thecrossbar of the T and the base forming the leg, the cylindrical casingand electrical contacts of said base being adapted to be inserted into avehicle tail light assembly, wires extending between and in contact withthe respective electrical contacts in said base and socket and away fromsaid assembly, said electrical contacts and wires being insulated fromcontact with the body of said socket and the cylindrical casing of saidbase.